Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement announced on Thursday the repatriation of more than 200 families with links to the Islamic State (ISIS) from the al-Hol camp in Syria, marking the latest step in Baghdad’s campaign to empty the facility it deems a severe threat to national security.

The operation, which is the 29th of its kind since the initiative began in 2021, will see approximately 800 Iraqi individuals returned to the country. However, officials noted that the final number could vary.

“Around 800 Iraqi national individuals will return home from al-Hol camp in Syria this evening,” said Ali Abbas, the ministry’s spokesperson. “We do not know the exact number until after they arrive because the lists we have are old and numbers could change.”

The al-Hol camp, located in Syria’s Hasakah province, houses nearly 40,000 people with ties to ISIS. It has long been criticized for its dire humanitarian conditions and has been described by Iraqi and international officials as a “breeding ground for terrorism.” The majority of its inhabitants are Iraqi and Syrian nationals, though it also holds thousands of foreign nationals from other countries who traveled to join the extremist group.

According to Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish lawmaker and member of the migration committee in the Iraqi parliament, those repatriated on Thursday originate from the provinces of Anbar, Nineveh, Salahaddin, and Babil.

Upon their return, the families will be temporarily housed at the al-Jadaa rehabilitation camp in Nineveh province. There, they will undergo a rehabilitation process aimed at reintegrating them into their home communities.

Iraq has consistently warned that al-Hol poses a significant security risk, describing it as a “ticking bomb.” Yassin Sharif al-Hujaimi, Chargé d’Affaires at the Iraqi Embassy in Damascus, reiterated these concerns on Wednesday, emphasizing the urgent need to dismantle the camp.

In a broader effort to address the issue internationally, Iraq has invited all countries with nationals in al-Hol to a conference scheduled for September in New York. The goal of the gathering is to develop coordinated strategies to empty and ultimately close the camp.